obsessingoverbl

[obsessingoverbl]

SmartBoom important trend

I don't know how many people will see this, but Auralis are still fighting for SmartBoom. At this point it isn't even about Top Form: It's about how two wonderful people's careers were thrown down the drain due to the disputes and wrongs of their companies who should be taking care of them. It's about Smart being hated and thrown to the wolves when he with tears said "SmartBoom forever." It's about two actors who had their dreams shining bright right in front of them which was taken away from them.

On X we're currently trending and it's very important. The trending info is below. Just copy it and use it, it dosen't even matter if it's on X or on other sites. Anywhere. Please refrain from cursing and use pictures too of SmartBoom if you can. Thank you so much. We demand justice for the pain that SmartBoom have to go through due to the wrongs of their companies!

"

@Tailai_ENT

@HeadlinerTH

@WeTVThailand

@GrandIvoryRec

JUSTICE FOR SMART

#WeWantSmartBoomBack

#AuralisUnited

"

[obsessingoverbl]

SMARTBOOM DESERVES BETTER! The best thing we can do right now is be LOUD at the companies and support the boys. Let the companies know that we're not happy and won't accept this. If they think we didn't want it or SmartBoom didn't want it, they were wrong. We want it, we want a bright future for SmartBoom together, and SmartBoom want that too! And we'll show them that we're not happy and won't accept this!

It isn't even about getting a second season. It is about how this ended. How they made a mess for everyone involved. Now there always be a stain on this wonderful peace of art they created and put they effort in.

[obsessingoverbl]

They better get their shit together before GMMTV gets SmartBoom...

[obsessingoverbl]

I want SmartBoom to succeed and be treated better. I'm hoping for the exact same thing as you wrote at the end. Let SmartBoom prevail and let this chaos be turned into something that will benefit them and make them happy!

Hi, I'm very (very!) new to the BL fandoms. I'm still figuring out what is what, so the SmartBoom news is the first major event I see unwind in real time. And I have a question - call me crazy, and maybe I am, but is it AT ALL possible for all of this to be an outlandish PR stunt?

Because 1) it makes literally zero sense, business-wise, for Smart to be doing it, according to the info those statements revealed themselves;

2) it's WAY too much on the nose with the basically verbatim situations we saw in the series to be just a coincidence, and

3) companies won't care if they seem like the Bad Guy here in the end, because they are universally hated anyway; however, if played right, and if the boys are made to seem to be "fighting" with them, and "prevailing", united Jin-Akin style, this might become this giant, transcending the screen "love-that-conquers-all", and turning the CP of SmartBoom into something legendary, iconic, and with potentially cult following. And turning them into a staple that surely will be supported/watched by EVERYONE in whatever they put them in - if for nothing else, then for the "Davids in love sticking it to the corporate Goliath" principle alone. All the while the corp guys preserve their power and control, because however (if at all) successful the stunt, they still stack the deck, and hold all the cards and power.

Obviously all of it sounds like some 3-rd rate series cartoon vilain plot, but didn't all analysis and metas posted lately claim how excessively greedy companies have become for engagement, trending, buzz, and popularity, and how they would do ANYTHING to get it, at the expence of everything and everyone? Would any stupidity, trick or stunt be too low to sink to, if it gets them there?

(That ask would make sense only if we DO observe some "heroic" actions and reconciliation, of course. If the ship sank, it's obviously just a few short-sighted guys in a petty, nano-dick measuring contest, ruining a good thing for literally everyone involved, including themselves. It's just, I always prefer to believe that when it's about big business and money, there's some convoluted, sinister plots at play, rather than plain, old, trivial, ABSOLUTE CORP STUPIDITY.)

NewbieAnon

Hello NewbieAnon and welcome to BL! I promise you we're not always putting fires out here 😅 It can actually be really fun, you just need to find the right ones to stan. And thank you for the ask!

Gosh I hope you can make sense of my very long SmartBoom posts 😅 I know I often write very long and very tangential, so please excuse the excessive blabber.

Anyway, first off, I LOVE your take on this! I really do. In fact, I'm hoping and praying that your hypothesis prevails, because if this PR stunt is a bamboozle to just hype the coming seasons, then I will take back everything I've said about these companies and will support ALL of their projects, even for other pairs, moving forward. Yes, it's greedy and manipulative, but if it means a career for their employees (not just Smart and Boom, but their co-stars, the people behind the scenes, their personal teams, their managers, etc.), then I will let the hustle absolve all sins.

On the outset, this social media bickering DOES look very stupid, right? Especially for industry veterans and definitely in 2025. Everything actually looks pre-planned and very in-series adjacent that someone even said this all feels like a Top Form episode, and I would agree with you my friend, if this was the first time this ever happened.

Sadly, in Thai BL (and so far, only in Thailand. Taiwan, Korea, and Japan producers have not exhibited the same issue, particularly because they don't establish branded pairs), this has happened many times over: companies screwing over their talents and the pairs just because they wanted a larger cut of the profit pie.

Before the pandemic, aside from GMMTV, branded pairs usually belonged to different companies or managements. Thai BL at the time was so new and not well-established, that bigger companies didn't see the benefits of investing in it-- often just loaning their dormant actors to indie BL producers for a quick paycheck. Most often, the prod houses who make BLs cast newbies or independent actors for their shows. Branded pairs aren't as big a deal as it was back then too, and cps weren't expected to do actual couple activities after the airing of a show. In fact, fandoms mostly just named themselves 😅 none of these naming ceremonies and hashtag nonsense. GMMTV really was the only company to commit to the concept, and they were rewarded handsomely for it (but maybe that's a post for another day).

The in-fighting was more common then because of this. PerthSaint was one of the first non-GMMTV pseudo-branded pairs to come out of early Thai BL, and they had a MASSIVE fanbase, but because they belonged to different companies that absolutely hated each other's guts, the pair perished before it ever became properly established (they never even had a joint fandom name. The Trigon fandom was supposed to be Saint's solo fandom name that bled into Perth's, which was then adapted for both of them). The show 2Moons had such a well-documented indie company vs. affiliate producer fiasco that they recast EVERYONE three times just to get the project off the ground. My Engineer the Series was another example, which spent two years in production hell before debuting with a cast of loaned and newbie actors, before promptly dropping said cast and never speaking of a season 2 they announced before airing Season 1. I've mentioned MewGulf and ZaintSee already because they were casualties too, but I have a few other examples (and these ones were actually established). First, OhmFluke: Ohm Thitiwat was a Studio WabiSabi talent, and given the number of continuous projects he had with co-star Fluke, you'd think the latter was a WabiSabi talent too. But he never formally joined the company, and after years of fighting with said company (and the affiliate producer WeTV *sighs*) to give him proper compensation for their project 609 Bedtime Story, Fluke Natouch officially left the branded pair. My most recent casualty is actually KaoUp (the same Up Poompat who is now in an actual branded pair with Poom Phuripan of My Stand-In), because though they only had one project together, they consistently appeared in each others' content and sponsorships. When Kao Noppakao signed a contract with Channel 3, the company entered a deal with Up's independent agency JustUp to loan Kao for BL projects with his brand partner Up, but a year later that deal also fell through, and Up found a new acting partner from Channel 8, who agreed to loan their dormant actor at the time, Poom Phuripan, to IQIYI.

That is to say, that not all BL branded pairs coming from different companies automatically fail, or get in a fight with each other's managements. I mentioned UpPoom up there because Poom's case is very unique, and might be more related to your ask than you think 😅 Poom was loaned by Channel 8 to IQIYI, (similar to what GIR did to Smart), but they had no intention of letting him go or establishing him in a branded pair outside of their company (he had a hetero semi-pair in Channel 8 already). After My Stand-In's runaway success, Poom actually terminated his contract with Channel 8, paid the fine and almost sued them for contract breach, left the company, founded his own studio Phumipatsorn 1997, and launched jointly with JustUp as an official affiliate. They are now in talks to do a second BL project with *sigh* WeTV. They have joint Youtube content and music, which is different from their individual solo work. This UpPoom blueprint is very similar to Billkin and PP Krit, who created individual companies after Nadao Bangkok went under, but continue to work together and do cp activities. They recently aired a bromance movie titled The Red Envelope.

YinWar is actually the best case scenario for a couple like SmartBoom, because Yin Anan and War Wanarat left BOTH of their companies and made their own JOINT company (YWPB Entertainment, what absolute BADASSES), and now they do BLs and cp activities that they chose for themselves.

This is all a very long-winded way of saying that Newbie Anon, though I love your take on these shenanigans, realistically I think GIR and HDL/TaiLai are being DEAD SERIOUS about their spats on social media, and that though these may be good PR, their tiny, money-hungry brains PROBABLY haven't figured that out yet.

But I mention UpPoom, BillkinPP, and YinWar because these three couples used their very public company woes to actually CATAPULT them to bigger fandoms. They know that airing and framing their against-all-odds story (which actually happened to them too, these companies were dead serious when they placed all three in hot water), to the masses would help their careers more, and this PR actually HELPED THEIR CAREERS. They sell out literal stadiums just for fans to hear their successful cp stories. If their companies cannot transform this bad press to loyal fan engagement, then I hope SmartBoom WILL, and use this PR nightmare to come out better and stronger for the sake of their careers.

Sorry this was so long but I hope it helped answer your ask even a little Newbie Anon! Welcome to the kooky world of BL!

[obsessingoverbl]

Jeff each time he realizes that Alan really is walking away from him and not coming back when he asks and the absolute heartbreak he experiences because Alan always comes when he calls. Alan always takes care of him and seeks him out and stays with him and tells him he's loved and wonderful... and now he's left behind. Suddenly he's left behind and Alan is walking away and it's like watching his heart shatter each time again and again.

[obsessingoverbl]

But all that aside, while Alan is 💯 valid in his frustration w/Jeff; I do think he wasn’t being 💯 rational when Jeff was trying to explain himself.

Like Jeff’s wording with “even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to do anything” was yikes (like you could tell he was trying to soften the blow by smiling but babes we gotta work on that brain to mouth filter 😭)

But the things Alan was saying weren’t 💯 sitting right with me either ngl.

“Burden shouldn’t even be a word in a relationship” & “think properly about what being a boyfriend means” like sir you knew damn well that you 1) had more romantic/relationship experience than Jeff when you pursued him & 2) you knew he had a traumatic past and had issues with trust and open communication like let’s not act like Jeff didn’t tell Alan to think carefully about whether he *really* wanted to be in a relationship w/him bc he didn’t want make Alan sad in S1.

All I’m saying is that I need them BOTH to reflect on this, it shouldn’t *just* be Jeff bc I don’t think Alan’s behavior was all that better :/

[obsessingoverbl]

What. the ever loving fuck. was THAT. And that was so cool, do it again

[obsessingoverbl]

dean said he can’t be a child of divorced parents

[obsessingoverbl]

What do you MEAN we didn't get an alanjeff conflict resolution within the ep???? 😭

[obsessingoverbl]

maybe if Tony stopped being an evil bitch, he can get him a gig doing Pantene commercials instead of experimenting on people😒

[obsessingoverbl]

no but the way jeff put on a smile and reassuring tone when telling alan you wouldn't have been able to help

obviously that's not jeff trying to be mean, that's jeff trying to make alan feel better

since the first time they met, the one thing jeff noticed about alan is that he worries and he has to worry because he's the oldest, because he's in charge, because people depend on him

so of course jeff didn't tell him - first of all, jeff has been taking care of himself all his life. i wouldn't really even say he relays on charlie as much as he was in the trenches with him. in a sense (english not being my first language is failing me here a bit i fear) they almost enable each other. second of all, it's not like alan could have done anything anyway, so why have him worry? and why wouldn't jeff hold on to the possibility of pretending that he's a "normal" kid in a "normal" relationship?

on the other hand

alan clearly has expectations of his relationships. he expects his partner to trust him (reasonable) enough to tell him when something is wrong, even something he can't solve. he worries, that's how he cares. he worries because when something is going on there will be something he can try to make it better, even if it's just listening. it may be taxing on him, but he doesn't care. (reasonable! being close to people is taxing, sometimes)

so when jeff doesn't tell him what's going on, alan feels rejected, because jeff doesn't allow him to care

[obsessingoverbl]

poohpavel: real life actors

charliebabe: fictional characters

pooh: actor just playing his role in a show

pavel: actor just playing his role in a show

poohpavel: not in an actual irl RELATIONSHIP

poohpavel: fan service and not a real relationship

pooh: actor

pavel: actor

pavel: not cheating

babe: has been telling willy to fuck off since the first episode of season two

babe: madly in love with charlie

pavel: actor just doing his job

me: FFS LEARN TO SEPARATE ACTOR FROM THEIR FICTIONAL CHARACTERS AND STOP GIVING PAVEL SHIT !!!!!!!

[obsessingoverbl]

This. I love my AlanJeff, they are my everything, but Alan did frustrate me a bit this episode. I understand Alan's feelings, I really do, and right now he is probably in a very emotional state where he can't see anything but his own emotions. But to me this does feel a bit OC for Alan if you compare him to S1. He loves Jeff, more than anything, is worried about him, which is also why he's angry. Again, understandable. But your boyfriend literally just told you he didn't want to burden you, which is a clear insecurity, he has piles of trauma on his back so what does he know about healthy communication, and he's also in PHYSICAL PAIN now from his visions, which must make Jeff so freightened, and you're not acknowleding it at all? If Jeff can feel pain that also means other terrible things that could happen to him during a vision depending on what that vision is. Don't we think it's more important to talk things out rather than holding grudges? Because what if Jeff had a vision of someone dying tomorrow and then he dies and Alan didn't get to say that he loved him but the last thing they did was fight? That would feel terrible. Again, I totally get Alan's feelings and all these human beings have flaws and it's human and relatable! I love AlanJeff with all my heart which is also why I feel a bit strongly about this. Idk if this will happen but I'm thinking maybe Jeff ends up at the hospital and Alan kind of snaps out of his feelings and realises the situation and they make up that way? I don't know, I guess we will see!

Maybe it's only me, but I totally think Alan isn't being fair to Jeff. Jeff is young, it's his first relationship and from his fucked up childhood he doesn't exactly have the greatest idea of what love should be. The SECOND Jeff said he didn't want to burden Alan, Alan should have reassured him, not scolded him. Honestly this seems really OC for Alan. Especially since we know that Jeff's life is in danger..

[obsessingoverbl]

Not even as a BL fan. I say this as a Film Nerd. As someone who works in this industry. As an Assistant Director myself (I'm trying to make myself sound better than I actually am, I'm sorry. I only work for a local channel that produces small scale shows. This is a small opinion at best). STILL, as a critic:

True to its title, Top Form should be the standard of the BL genre.

Directing, cinematography, the script's pacing-- topnotch. Director P'Boss studied his craft well and it shows. He wasn't insistent on his own technique; he pulled inspiration from other cinematic greats and took which elements he thought would work best for the project. He depicted the script from its core message instead of at face value. But best of all, P'Boss did not pander to popular trends and what he thought would sell well to the BL audience. He would show this larger-than-life premise in the most human way possible, however imperfect and difficult that might be.

But what made this series a true standout? TRULY BREATHTAKING ACTING.

Never have I seen two BL actors CONSISTENTLY complement each other's style, technique, and energy until Smart and Boom graced our screens, and this doesn't even factor in the artfully-executed love scenes. I've seen a lot of talented BL actors who fall flat once they act in pairs, but Smart and Boom matched each other perfectly in each step, that it felt like a beautifully-executed dance. Their chemistry was just so NATURAL since the first episode, but it's not the usual chemistry that demands irresistible desire or attraction. Instead, it's electric-- something that hangs in the air and makes you constantly anticipate what comes after, whether good or bad. They're so good, they made the clunkier parts of the script still flow smoothly with the rest of the plot.

Smart and Boom are the only two BL actors in the industry who have proven to me that they know their characters better than ANYONE, better even than their scriptwriters and director. Their portrayals felt so REALISTIC, so relateable, so believable, that I had to pause during one episode to just-- realign myself to the fact that Jin and Akin do not exist. That these stakes are non-existent. That their love isn't something I can help fight for because it's fiction.

And all this from two actors with very minimal credits to their name, who've never met before, who share dissimilar traits and personalities, and aged a decade apart from each other. No workshop could ever achieve this. This was just God-given acting talent at its finest hour.

If Top Form doesn't win any awards this year or the next, then it sadly means that it was ahead of its time. The show was a masterclass in cinema, but I doubt a lot of people will be able to realize that. Fans will remain for the candy, not the arthouse after all.

But I feel it in my heart that it will win something, anything. It will boomerang wonderful careers for the whole Top Form team. It will be a sensation talked about for years to come-- as it should be.

[obsessingoverbl]

[obsessingoverbl]

[obsessingoverbl]

Akin not being able to look at Jin when he says "Yes [I had you come so I could return this necklace and end this]", his hand hovering in the air after Jin takes it from him. His lip trembling. All of it is heartbreaking, and it hurts all of my feelings, but the worst part? The thing that had my stomach in knots?

Akin fighting the comfort Jin offered. The way he would lean into Jin's arms -- the same embrace he was literally daydreaming about while on stage -- and then move away from it, struggle to get distance that Jin wasn't giving, and his hands scrambling to hold on and then push away... The way he wouldn't let himself take comfort until Jin asked him to listen, until he told him his apologies were unnecessary, until he told him and let him hear that Johnny lied and manipulated him.

The way he collapsed, and then finally let Jin hold him?

I swear I held my breath that whole time.

Boom Raweewit, the actor that you are, holy shit.

(also, Jin leading with "I love you" before anything else, and Akin being able to say it back after he had the truth was exceptional. Because Jin is so sure about them, would give up everything he's built for Akin, but Akin is cautious and needs to be certain, needs to be careful; they balance each other so well, and the way they accept what the other can give is beautiful)